CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia restaurant community has rallied around a Charlottesville chef who lost her hand in a kitchen accident.
Doctors at UVA Hospital amputated Chef Alexandra “Allie” Redshaw’s hand this week, her husband Ian Redshaw confirmed.
The decision to amputate was made after the 27-year-old chef and mother’s hand got mangled in a meat grinder at Lampo Neapolitan Pizzeria, the restaurant where she works with her husband Ian.
The Redshaw family
“She was grinding meat for a dish at Lampo,” Ian said. “Meat grinders are something that she and many of us at Lampo use many times a week, if not daily. A piece of clothing/glove got caught and by the time it could be stopped it was unfortunately too late.”
While the outcome was undoubtedly horrific, Ian said it could have been worse.
“She works very closely with two other workers on the prep crew,” he said. “Without their cool heads, she would have been in much worse shape.”
At the hospital, an orthopedic specialist at the UVA Hand Center informed the Redshaws that Allie’s hand would have to be removed at the wrist.
“He is doing everything he can to provide the best, least invasive recovery possible,” Ian said of the doctor’s efforts.
While Allie recovers in the hospital, Ian has been overwhelmed by the amount of support his family has received from friends, neighbors, and the Charlottesville food community.
“Charlottesville is the truest sense of community I have ever seen in my life. We are just in awe of how the community has helped in so many both monetarily, emotionally,and physically,” he said. “The restaurant scene in Charlottesville is as close knit as could be.”
Friends have set-up a meal sharing service for the Redshaws and established a GoFundMe page to help the family off-set some of the incurring medical and everyday life costs.
Nearly $100,000 was raised online as of Sunday morning.
“To all of the people who have donated time, energy, food, money, accommodations. We are beyond grateful. You all astound me with your generosity,” Ian said.
He said Allie felt blessed to be alive and could not wait to get home and heal, so that she can get back to what she loves doing most, being a mother and a chef.
“Allie is the most strong-spirited person I know, joking both before the procedure and after,” Ian said. “She is strong in her faith and has been so inspirational to everyone around her.”
